Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Bro. Jacob Norton And His " Further Comments "On "Facts And Fictions."
and I trust he will pardon me if I do not give as much attention to each paragraph as he may think it deserves ; the fact is I am now closely occupied with other matters , which cannot well be deferred .
I have first to thank him most sincerely for his endeavours to clear away the dust with which he says I havo unintentionally bespattered the eyes of my readers . I was not aware that I had done anything of the kind , having heard no complaints of that nature on this side of
the Atlantic , where I may fairly assume that a great majority of the readers of the CHRONICLE are to be found . If , however , I have been so unfortunate , I can only say
that 1 am exceedingly sorry for it , and I hope that the efforts of Bro . Norton have been completely successful . My explanation of the sentence quoted by Bro . Norton from p 130 of " Facts and Fictions " is , that it formed a
portion of my remarks on the Grand Lodge Seals of the " Ancients , " their Warrants being mentioned elsewhere , and that is why the words " complete Warrant" were used . If Bro . Norton considers a Warrant cnrnvletp .
without the Grand Lodge seal , I have only to say that I do not . I am therefore under the necessity of reminding him that by omitting the word " complete " he did not repeat what
I had printed : his words being , "Bro . Sadler , however , never saw a Warrant of the Ancients older than 1772 , " whereas in another part of the book I had stated that I had two older ones before me , viz ., one of 1757 and the other of 1759 .
I beg to apologise to Brother Norton for having misunderstood his reference to the Nova Scotian documents , which I have never seen , and he has not at hand to refer to . I have looked over his " Comments " again , and I imagine I must have been misled by the following sentence : " Both documents are headed with ' Blesinton . '
but neither of them are signed by the Grand Master , but by 'Lau . Dermott , G . Sec' The question therefore is , did Lord Blessington ever sign a Warrant at all ? " Now ,
as the foregoing is a portion of the lengthy accusation against Dermott of having forged the signature of the Grand Master , I think Bro . Norton will admit that my mistake was not an unnatural one . However , I accent with
pleasure his disclaimer that he did not accuse Dermott of having committed forgeries for " exportation , " but merely for " home consumption . " Notwithstanding Bro . Norton ' s recent explanation , I must confess to being still
somewhat hazy with regard to these documeuts , which he says , " are headed ] * Blesinton' and yet not signed by that nobleman but by Dermott , and I think it not at all unlikelv
that if I could but get a sight of them I should come to the conclusion that they bear the actual signature of the Grand Master as well as that of the Grand Secretary . I am delighted to find that there is at last a prospect of
a change ot employment lor me , and that instead of defending the Ancients from the abuse which has been so freely showered upon them I have now before me the
much moro congenial task of defending my own writings . I have first to thank Bro . Norton for taking the trouble to point out the " mistakes in ' Facts and Fictions ' " ; it is what I have asked several of my friends to do , for however
careful one may be , errors will occasionally creep in , but up to now I have had to make very few corrections . Various
kinds of mistakes are to be met with in literary productions . There is the writer ' s mistake , the printer ' s mistake , and occasionally a mistake is made by the reader , but as a matter of course this rarely happens . It seems to me ,
however , that the " mistakes " to which Bro . Norton directs attention will be more easily found in his own fertile imagination than in the book he fancies he is criticising . For instance , I should like to know on what page he finds
the first mistake , " Bro . Sadler claims that the Installation ceremony with word , grip , & c , was designed by Anderson , to be repeated after every election of a new Master for an old Lodge . " To the best of mv knowledge I have not
made any such claim . I certainly did not mention " grip , word , & c , " nor did I state that the ceremony " was designed by Anderson . " What I did say will be found on
page 196 , and is as follows : — _ " If in addition to tbe foregoing we take into acconnt tbe abolition of the ceremony of Installation ( also enjoined and partly described in the Constitutions of 1723 ) , and tbe important alterations made in the other ceremonies , I think we must admit , that after tbe
year last mentioned the adherents of the regular Grand Lodge bid done much to merit tbe distinctive title of ' Modern Mason ?/ tbe justice of which tbey tacitly acknowledged , as the records of tbe Lodge of Promulgation testify . Whereas the rival body having kept alive and continued to obgeive BO many of the old customs of the
Bro. Jacob Norton And His " Further Comments "On "Facts And Fictions."
Order , had a stronger title to the appellation of' Ancients' than haa generally been accorded them . " Having gone very fairly and fully into this question of the installation ceremony in my previous replies to Brother
Norton , I have too much regard for the patience of the readers of the CHRONICLE , to traverse the same ground again now , I shall therefore content myself with an appeal
to their judgment , whether what Bro . Norton believes , what he feels satisfied of , what he has no doubt of , and what he considers he is justified in inferring , ought to he received as evidence of a mistake on my part ? ( To be continued . )
Royal Ark Mariners.
ROYAL ARK MARINERS .
CONSECRATION OF THE HENNIKER LODGE . PREVIOUS to the anniversary meeting of the Albert Viotor Lodge of Mark Master Masons at the Masonio Hall , Ipswich , on Toesday the 16 th inst ., a Lodge of Royal Ark Mariners was conseorated , under the name of Henniker Lodge . A Royal Ark Mariners' Lodge was opened , Bro . B . R . Bryant acting as Commander N ., Bros , the Rev . C . J . Martyn D . P . G . M . M . as S ., and Robt . Berridge G . D . of 0 .
P . G . M . O . as J . The other Ark Mariners present were : —Bros , the Lord Henniker P . G . M . Eog . P . G . M . East Anglia , the Earl of Caithness , C . P . Matier P . G . W ., N . Tracey and the Rev . R . 0 . Davies , B . D ., D . C . L . After the opening of the Lodge the following brethren were elevated to the degree of Royal Ark Mariners : —
Bros , tbe Rev . R . N . Sanderson P . G . C . 70 , Harris Hills 154 , Major W . Dods 317 , Hugh W . H . Elwes 317 , C . A . B . Bignold , Geo . Abbott 70 , A . J . Grimwade 70 , J . A . James Peck 70 , J . C . Norman 70 , J . R . Geard 70 , Fred C . Atkinson 70 , and Geo . Gould 70 . The ceremony of the consecration of the new Lodge was then
proceeded with . Bro . C . P . Matier was the conseorating N ., the chairs of S . and J . being filled respectively by Bros , tbe Earl of Caithness and the Rev . R . Peck , Bro . the Rev . C . J . Martyn acting as Chaplain , and Bro . R . Berridge as Director of Ceremonies . The petition and warrant having been read , Bro . the Rev . C . J . Martyn
delivered an oration on the principles of Ark Masonry . He said the traditional history of Ark Masonry , whiob tbe brethren had heard in the ceremony just being concluded , showed it was derived from the traditional history of the great patriarch Noah , who with his sons Shem . Ham , and Japhet , were saved in tbe ark from tbe delnge
which overwhelmed the rest of the world . Bro . Martyn pointed out the way in whiob the degree emphasizpd tbe virtues of moderation , temperance , brotherly love , and charity , and said if tbey endeavoured to carry out those virtues in their daily lives they wonld do something towards realising that grand ideal whioh ought to be tbe desire and
ambition of all of them . He prayed that the Grand Commander of tbe Universe might bless them in their meetings there , and that the principles upon which the Order was founded wonld be transmitted through tbe Henniker Lodge from generation to generation . The impressive consecration ceremony waa then proceeded with . The
dedication prayer was read by the Chaplain , and tbe Invocation by tbe Consecrating N . The Presiding Officer and Grand Officers then formed a procession , and made a circuit of the Lodge , bearing corn , wine , oil , and salt . These were respectively sprinkled upon the Lodge board , and their signification explained by the Presiding
Officer . At the conclusion of the ceremony , in accordance with the prayer of the petition , Bro . Lord Henniker waa installed as the First Commander N . Lord Henniker . in taking his s ** at , thanked the founders of tbe Lodge for placing him in the honourable position of first Commander N . He was always very glad , as an old Suffolk
Mason , to have a fresh link between himself and the brethren Jiving in tbe province over which be presided , and particularly to have a fresh link connecting him with any Lodge situate in Ipswicb . He was very grateful to them , and he was sure the brethren wonld join with him in thanking the two brethren who bad
coma down from Grand Lodge to help them iu the consecration , Bros . Matier and Berridge . It had been his good fortune to work with , them for a good many years iu the Mark Degree , and he did not know two more valaable brethren . He also thanked Bro . Bryant for the admirable manner in which be presided over the Lodge and
elevated the newly-elected brethren . In conclusion , Lord Henniker expressel tbe hope that Henniker Lodge of Ark Mariners wonld prosper to tbe same degree as the other Lodges in the Province . The officers of the L dge were installed , as follow : —Bro ? . the Rev . C . J .
Martyn J ., N . Tracy S ., the Rev . R . N . Sanderson S . D ., the Rev . R . Peck J . D ., A . J . Grimwade Scribe , II . VI . H . Elwes D . of C , J . C . Norman Steward , the Rev . R . 0 . Davies Org ., G . Abbott Guardian , 'lhe Ark Mariners Lodge was then closed .
The Second Walthamstow Masonic Benevolent Association , under the combined sanction of the Beaconsfield and Warner Lodges of Instruction , has been inaugurated at the Chequers Hotel , Walthamstow . It has a strong
Committee of energetic brethren , Bro . John Wilda . sh P . M . 1662 being its President , and Bros . W . Shurmur 2256 and T . Scoresby Jackson J . W . 2256 , its vice-presidents . The Treasurers are Bros . Ffrench Bromhead and Wm , Nicholls , both of the Beaconsfield Lodge of Instruction ,
No . 1662 , which now meets on Wednesday evenings , instead of Mondays , as heretofore .
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Bro. Jacob Norton And His " Further Comments "On "Facts And Fictions."
and I trust he will pardon me if I do not give as much attention to each paragraph as he may think it deserves ; the fact is I am now closely occupied with other matters , which cannot well be deferred .
I have first to thank him most sincerely for his endeavours to clear away the dust with which he says I havo unintentionally bespattered the eyes of my readers . I was not aware that I had done anything of the kind , having heard no complaints of that nature on this side of
the Atlantic , where I may fairly assume that a great majority of the readers of the CHRONICLE are to be found . If , however , I have been so unfortunate , I can only say
that 1 am exceedingly sorry for it , and I hope that the efforts of Bro . Norton have been completely successful . My explanation of the sentence quoted by Bro . Norton from p 130 of " Facts and Fictions " is , that it formed a
portion of my remarks on the Grand Lodge Seals of the " Ancients , " their Warrants being mentioned elsewhere , and that is why the words " complete Warrant" were used . If Bro . Norton considers a Warrant cnrnvletp .
without the Grand Lodge seal , I have only to say that I do not . I am therefore under the necessity of reminding him that by omitting the word " complete " he did not repeat what
I had printed : his words being , "Bro . Sadler , however , never saw a Warrant of the Ancients older than 1772 , " whereas in another part of the book I had stated that I had two older ones before me , viz ., one of 1757 and the other of 1759 .
I beg to apologise to Brother Norton for having misunderstood his reference to the Nova Scotian documents , which I have never seen , and he has not at hand to refer to . I have looked over his " Comments " again , and I imagine I must have been misled by the following sentence : " Both documents are headed with ' Blesinton . '
but neither of them are signed by the Grand Master , but by 'Lau . Dermott , G . Sec' The question therefore is , did Lord Blessington ever sign a Warrant at all ? " Now ,
as the foregoing is a portion of the lengthy accusation against Dermott of having forged the signature of the Grand Master , I think Bro . Norton will admit that my mistake was not an unnatural one . However , I accent with
pleasure his disclaimer that he did not accuse Dermott of having committed forgeries for " exportation , " but merely for " home consumption . " Notwithstanding Bro . Norton ' s recent explanation , I must confess to being still
somewhat hazy with regard to these documeuts , which he says , " are headed ] * Blesinton' and yet not signed by that nobleman but by Dermott , and I think it not at all unlikelv
that if I could but get a sight of them I should come to the conclusion that they bear the actual signature of the Grand Master as well as that of the Grand Secretary . I am delighted to find that there is at last a prospect of
a change ot employment lor me , and that instead of defending the Ancients from the abuse which has been so freely showered upon them I have now before me the
much moro congenial task of defending my own writings . I have first to thank Bro . Norton for taking the trouble to point out the " mistakes in ' Facts and Fictions ' " ; it is what I have asked several of my friends to do , for however
careful one may be , errors will occasionally creep in , but up to now I have had to make very few corrections . Various
kinds of mistakes are to be met with in literary productions . There is the writer ' s mistake , the printer ' s mistake , and occasionally a mistake is made by the reader , but as a matter of course this rarely happens . It seems to me ,
however , that the " mistakes " to which Bro . Norton directs attention will be more easily found in his own fertile imagination than in the book he fancies he is criticising . For instance , I should like to know on what page he finds
the first mistake , " Bro . Sadler claims that the Installation ceremony with word , grip , & c , was designed by Anderson , to be repeated after every election of a new Master for an old Lodge . " To the best of mv knowledge I have not
made any such claim . I certainly did not mention " grip , word , & c , " nor did I state that the ceremony " was designed by Anderson . " What I did say will be found on
page 196 , and is as follows : — _ " If in addition to tbe foregoing we take into acconnt tbe abolition of the ceremony of Installation ( also enjoined and partly described in the Constitutions of 1723 ) , and tbe important alterations made in the other ceremonies , I think we must admit , that after tbe
year last mentioned the adherents of the regular Grand Lodge bid done much to merit tbe distinctive title of ' Modern Mason ?/ tbe justice of which tbey tacitly acknowledged , as the records of tbe Lodge of Promulgation testify . Whereas the rival body having kept alive and continued to obgeive BO many of the old customs of the
Bro. Jacob Norton And His " Further Comments "On "Facts And Fictions."
Order , had a stronger title to the appellation of' Ancients' than haa generally been accorded them . " Having gone very fairly and fully into this question of the installation ceremony in my previous replies to Brother
Norton , I have too much regard for the patience of the readers of the CHRONICLE , to traverse the same ground again now , I shall therefore content myself with an appeal
to their judgment , whether what Bro . Norton believes , what he feels satisfied of , what he has no doubt of , and what he considers he is justified in inferring , ought to he received as evidence of a mistake on my part ? ( To be continued . )
Royal Ark Mariners.
ROYAL ARK MARINERS .
CONSECRATION OF THE HENNIKER LODGE . PREVIOUS to the anniversary meeting of the Albert Viotor Lodge of Mark Master Masons at the Masonio Hall , Ipswich , on Toesday the 16 th inst ., a Lodge of Royal Ark Mariners was conseorated , under the name of Henniker Lodge . A Royal Ark Mariners' Lodge was opened , Bro . B . R . Bryant acting as Commander N ., Bros , the Rev . C . J . Martyn D . P . G . M . M . as S ., and Robt . Berridge G . D . of 0 .
P . G . M . O . as J . The other Ark Mariners present were : —Bros , the Lord Henniker P . G . M . Eog . P . G . M . East Anglia , the Earl of Caithness , C . P . Matier P . G . W ., N . Tracey and the Rev . R . 0 . Davies , B . D ., D . C . L . After the opening of the Lodge the following brethren were elevated to the degree of Royal Ark Mariners : —
Bros , tbe Rev . R . N . Sanderson P . G . C . 70 , Harris Hills 154 , Major W . Dods 317 , Hugh W . H . Elwes 317 , C . A . B . Bignold , Geo . Abbott 70 , A . J . Grimwade 70 , J . A . James Peck 70 , J . C . Norman 70 , J . R . Geard 70 , Fred C . Atkinson 70 , and Geo . Gould 70 . The ceremony of the consecration of the new Lodge was then
proceeded with . Bro . C . P . Matier was the conseorating N ., the chairs of S . and J . being filled respectively by Bros , tbe Earl of Caithness and the Rev . R . Peck , Bro . the Rev . C . J . Martyn acting as Chaplain , and Bro . R . Berridge as Director of Ceremonies . The petition and warrant having been read , Bro . the Rev . C . J . Martyn
delivered an oration on the principles of Ark Masonry . He said the traditional history of Ark Masonry , whiob tbe brethren had heard in the ceremony just being concluded , showed it was derived from the traditional history of the great patriarch Noah , who with his sons Shem . Ham , and Japhet , were saved in tbe ark from tbe delnge
which overwhelmed the rest of the world . Bro . Martyn pointed out the way in whiob the degree emphasizpd tbe virtues of moderation , temperance , brotherly love , and charity , and said if tbey endeavoured to carry out those virtues in their daily lives they wonld do something towards realising that grand ideal whioh ought to be tbe desire and
ambition of all of them . He prayed that the Grand Commander of tbe Universe might bless them in their meetings there , and that the principles upon which the Order was founded wonld be transmitted through tbe Henniker Lodge from generation to generation . The impressive consecration ceremony waa then proceeded with . The
dedication prayer was read by the Chaplain , and tbe Invocation by tbe Consecrating N . The Presiding Officer and Grand Officers then formed a procession , and made a circuit of the Lodge , bearing corn , wine , oil , and salt . These were respectively sprinkled upon the Lodge board , and their signification explained by the Presiding
Officer . At the conclusion of the ceremony , in accordance with the prayer of the petition , Bro . Lord Henniker waa installed as the First Commander N . Lord Henniker . in taking his s ** at , thanked the founders of tbe Lodge for placing him in the honourable position of first Commander N . He was always very glad , as an old Suffolk
Mason , to have a fresh link between himself and the brethren Jiving in tbe province over which be presided , and particularly to have a fresh link connecting him with any Lodge situate in Ipswicb . He was very grateful to them , and he was sure the brethren wonld join with him in thanking the two brethren who bad
coma down from Grand Lodge to help them iu the consecration , Bros . Matier and Berridge . It had been his good fortune to work with , them for a good many years iu the Mark Degree , and he did not know two more valaable brethren . He also thanked Bro . Bryant for the admirable manner in which be presided over the Lodge and
elevated the newly-elected brethren . In conclusion , Lord Henniker expressel tbe hope that Henniker Lodge of Ark Mariners wonld prosper to tbe same degree as the other Lodges in the Province . The officers of the L dge were installed , as follow : —Bro ? . the Rev . C . J .
Martyn J ., N . Tracy S ., the Rev . R . N . Sanderson S . D ., the Rev . R . Peck J . D ., A . J . Grimwade Scribe , II . VI . H . Elwes D . of C , J . C . Norman Steward , the Rev . R . 0 . Davies Org ., G . Abbott Guardian , 'lhe Ark Mariners Lodge was then closed .
The Second Walthamstow Masonic Benevolent Association , under the combined sanction of the Beaconsfield and Warner Lodges of Instruction , has been inaugurated at the Chequers Hotel , Walthamstow . It has a strong
Committee of energetic brethren , Bro . John Wilda . sh P . M . 1662 being its President , and Bros . W . Shurmur 2256 and T . Scoresby Jackson J . W . 2256 , its vice-presidents . The Treasurers are Bros . Ffrench Bromhead and Wm , Nicholls , both of the Beaconsfield Lodge of Instruction ,
No . 1662 , which now meets on Wednesday evenings , instead of Mondays , as heretofore .